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The Greatest Love Of All
When it was pushing Whitney Houston's first post-crack greatest hits album before Christmas, Sony BMG trumpeted:
a collection of all her biggest hits, together on one CD for the very first time
A TV viewer, who'd already bought a Greatest Hits collection with all but one of the songs on, thought this claim a trifle odd and complained to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Sony's defence? Ah, yes, the songs have been released on a package before, but this is the first time they've been on a single disc:
Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Sony) said The Ultimate Collection was a one disc CD, whereas The Greatest Hits album, which was released in 2000, was a two disc CD. The ad was therefore referring to the fact that Whitney Houstons greatest hits were appearing on one disc for the first time and was intended to distinguish The Ultimate Collection from The Greatest Hits. They believed the claim was correct and truthful. They said they had deliberately avoided stating that the greatest hits were together on one album for the first time, because they believed the term album was generally used to describe a collection of recordings, whereas the term CD was generally used to describe the music format.
Clearcast (formerly the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre) endorsed Sonys comments. They said the claim "together on one CD for the very first time" described the format of the album and how many discs it comprised and was literally correct. They said many ads for artists and bands referred to their new albums; a format was specified only if it was a special edition. They argued that consumers who already owned The Greatest Hits would recognise the songs played in the ad and would be alerted to the fact that they were now available on a single disc, whereas consumers who had not bought The Greatest Hits and wanted all of Whitney Houstons greatest hits on one CD would receive exactly that if they purchased The Ultimate Collection; they therefore believed the ad would not mislead viewers.
Clearcast (formerly the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre) endorsed Sonys comments. They said the claim "together on one CD for the very first time" described the format of the album and how many discs it comprised and was literally correct. They said many ads for artists and bands referred to their new albums; a format was specified only if it was a special edition. They argued that consumers who already owned The Greatest Hits would recognise the songs played in the ad and would be alerted to the fact that they were now available on a single disc, whereas consumers who had not bought The Greatest Hits and wanted all of Whitney Houstons greatest hits on one CD would receive exactly that if they purchased The Ultimate Collection; they therefore believed the ad would not mislead viewers.
Surprisingly, this 'it might not be the first time they've been in a single jewel case, but they've never been on a single disc inside a jewel case' defence was allowed by the Advertising Standards Authority.
1 comment:
*reads*
*rubs eyes*
*re-reads*
Good lord above. People actually get paid to think up this weasel-word nonsense. My favourite bit is "Consumers who already owned The Greatest Hits... would be alerted to the fact that they were now available on a single disc, whereas consumers who had not bought The Greatest Hits and wanted all of Whitney Houstons greatest hits on one CD would receive exactly that". It conjours up an image of people who find that old two-disc compilation far too cumbersome, who then saw the advert and gasped "At last!! All the hits on one physical disc! No longer will I suffer the torment of finding someone's put CD2 at the front of the case and CD1 behind it, causing me to put the wrong disc in whilst driving."
Of course, the poor sods who bought the old 2-disc version are probably now looking at the tracklisting, wondering which ropier tracks have been dropped for the new streamlined edition, thinking "Drat, I thought this was one of her greatest hits, but apparently it's not".
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